Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Shadowy Past
by MontagJ
Summary: Kronos is stopped and the crisis averted, but Percy Jackson's adventures are far from over. A threatening ally from his father's past arises from the underworld to claim his reward. POSTPONED
1. Prologue: A Troubled Sleep II

Percy Jackson is quite the enigma. While I could predict most of the plot twists by the end of chapter one, (I know it's a kids series, and I know that's not saying much) I still loved the series. I guess it's because of the characters. Which is why this was inevitable: my fifth fanfic, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Shadowy Past.

* * *

For the first time in a long time, I had a nightmare. For most people, this wouldn't be so bad, but for me, it can mean big trouble. See, I'm a half-blood. As crazy as it sounds, that means I'm half god. My dad is Poseidon, Greek god of the sea. I know what you're thinking, "he must be crazy" right. Well it's true. And sometimes I wish it wasn't.

So anyway, this was my dream. I was at the recently re-built Olympus (long story) inside the throne room of the gods. The twelve "major" gods were gathered around someone. I noticed the other thirty or so other gods weren't there (also long story). I moved up to the back of the crowd and saw someone I didn't recognize. He wore a black jumpsuit, the kind you'd see S.W.A.T. guys in. He had brown hair and eyes and an expressionless face. There were letters on his sleeve, some kind of acronym. With my dyslexia, I had no chance of getting the order right. I saw something like H.S.A.D., but even if I knew the right order, I had a feeling it still wouldn't mean anything to me. The weirdest part was he was mortal (Don't ask me how I could tell) and he wasn't the least bit intimidated.

"If I could get my team that far," the mortal said, "I can set the bomb so there will be no collateral damage."

"How dare you!" one of the gods screamed. "We let you up here, against our tradition, so you could spit this garbage?!" I looked over to see the speaker had a leather jacket and black shades. It was Ares, god of war.

"Your traditions are none of my concern," the mortal said. I couldn't believe a mortal had the courage, or perhaps the stupidity, to talk to a god that way.

"Why you," Ares fumed, "I'll slaughter you!"

"Silence, Ares," Zeus said. He was wearing his dark blue pinstriped suit. This mortal must be under Zeus' protection, I decided. That was the only way he would look so calm standing up to Ares.

"No! This is nonsense!" Ares was ranting like a madman. The next thing I knew, the mortal had drawn a gun and shot Ares between the eyes. My jaw dropped when I saw the war god fall to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.

Zeus looked uneasy, like he was afraid the mortal would turn his weapon on him next, but he continued. "I must admit, I am very intrigued by your plan," he said apprehensively.

"I would have you explain more, mortal," a goddess spoke up. She wore jeans and a white blouse, and had long blond hair and stormy grey eyes. It was Athena. I wanted to back away from her. See, I've kind of been dating her daughter, and she hates my dad, so she kind of hates me too. She opened her mouth to speak again, but the mortal cut her off.

"We have sources," the mortal answered, like he had read her mind, "that's all you need to know." I thought my new hero (Ares wants to kill me, so anyone who can cause him pain is my hero) was about to be vaporized, but Athena just nodded as if _she_ had done something wrong! I was really starting to get freaked out. It was almost as if the gods were scared of this mortal.

"I object to this plan," my father, Poseidon said. He looked like he just came back from a fishing trip, like he always did when he wasn't in his armor.

"Putting on a show for your brat?" the mortal asked. Before that even registered in my brain he turned and fired his gun in my direction. No one moved for a long time. None of the gods were hit, but I could feel a shallow cut on my cheek. "Trespassing in my domain is lethal," the mortal said looking straight at me, "Stay out of my mind."

I shot out of my bed and reached for my deadly pen/sword Riptide, but then I realized that I was back in my bedroom. It was seven in the morning. I woke up on time without my mom having to drag me out of bed, which never happened.

My mom walked in expecting to see me snoring in bed. When she saw I was already up, a look of concern shot across her face. She ran over to me and started fussing over the left side of my face. "Oh, my gods, Percy! What happened?" I didn't know what she was talking about at first, then I felt blood trickle down the side of my face. The cut I got in my dream! I told my mom everything. She looked like she was going to cry. I had almost died last summer because of dreams like that.

I ate breakfast with my parents in almost absolute silence. Mom must have told Paul about my dream, I thought. Paul Blofis, my stepdad, was really cool. He didn't mind all the crazy stuff that came with a half-blood like me. But he looked as worried as my mom.

Right after I finished my breakfast, I heard a knock at the door. I got ready for the last day of school and carefully opened the door. On the other side of the door was a girl in a plane looking school uniform. She had the same curly blond hair and grey eyes as her mother. She was scowling at me.

"I'm glad you came," I said.

She just huffed and started to walk away. Annabeth, my girlfriend, had stayed at her friend's house the night before, so we decided to walk to school together for once. Normally we'd only see each other in the afternoon since she went to an all girl's boarding school.

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked. She huffed again. I took that as a yes. "I told you I was sorry!" It wasn't even a big deal. I… I kind of stood her up a week ago. I just forgot! It's not like I was avoiding her or anything. And I had been apologizing ever since.

When we left the apartment my backpack got hooked on the door. When I turned to unhook it Annabeth gasped. "Percy, are you alright?"

I realized right away she meant the bandage on my face. I also realized I had been trying to hide it from her subconsciously. I told her about my dream too. She didn't look nearly as worried as my parents, but that's because she had been through just as much as I had. Still, she looked worried. I was supposed to be invulnerable after I bathed in the River Styx last year.

Annabeth put her hand on the small of my back and traced a small circle with her fingers, her little way of showing her affection. If it had been anyone else, I would have jumped away and not let them touch me. That was the only spot that was still vulnerable. Literally my Achilles' heel.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked in a soft tone. I nodded, but the truth was, I wasn't sure.

I smiled at her. "So the next time you're mad at me," I began, "I just have to get hurt in my sleep and you'll forgive me?" She jabbed me in the side (which is not ever a good feeling) and huffed at me again. This time it wasn't an _I'm gonna kill you_ kind of huff so much as a _watch it buster_ kind of huff. "I really am sorry," I said as we hit the point where we had to separate.

"I know," she said reluctantly, like she wanted to stay mad at me. She leaned over and kissed me, "Just don't let it happen again Seaweed Brain." We both went our separate ways.

Luckily, there were no monster attacks this year, which was a first for me. I guessed it was because Kronos was no longer stirring them and making them restless.

When the three o'clock bell rang, I rushed out to meet back up with Annabeth, who I hoped was still over our little spat.

When I saw her my heart sank. She was crying. I rushed over to her and asked her what was wrong. "My father was arrested," she said. That was really bad news, but it didn't seem like the kind of thing a strong girl like Annabeth cry. "That's not all," she said, like she read my mind, "They threatened my whole family. They said they'd kill them if they told anyone they were there."

"Then how did you find out?" I asked, trying to stay calm and comfort her at the same time. A second later I realized how insensitive that sounded and cursed my ADHD mouth in my head. She didn't seem to care.

"They threatened me too!"

* * *

This is the first time I've attempted to write in the first person. It's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. This is off to a great start as far as I'm concerned, but I suppose I'll see if anyone else thinks it's any good. I'm just lucky the ending of _The Last Olympian_ set me up so well.


	2. Chapter 1 My Mind Gets Trick Buzzered

The prologue worked for me, let's see if I can get through chapter 1. (I'm a little gun shy after my Avatar fic.)

* * *

We road on Blackjack, my raven-black pegasus, west. Straight west. I was so angry that someone would threaten my Annabeth. Now that I think about it, she'd probably kill me if I ever called her "my Annabeth" out loud, but my heart was in the right place. We passed the Mississippi (which took Blackjack only a half hour since he didn't have to follow a mortal vehicle like last time) before I tried to talk to her.

"Annabeth?" I said, trying not to sound angry. If she thought I was angry at her, I didn't know what she'd do.

She sniffed. "Sorry Percy."

I was confused, "For what?"

"I'm acting like a big baby," she said, sounding miserable.

"No," I told her in a calm voice. She hugged me tighter around the waist. I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or if it just made her feel worse.

"I was just so scared," she sounded like she was about to cry again. I didn't want that.

I turned as far as I could and hugged her. It seemed to help a little. I wasn't sure if I should ask, but I had to know. "What happened?"

She took a shaky breath. "I got called down to the office near the end of the day," she started, "When I got there, the principal was gone. A man was waiting for me. He had a white shirt with a monogram."

"What did it say?" I asked stupidly. Annabeth was dyslexic like me. All half-bloods were since our brains are hardwired to read Greek, not English.

She sighed, thinking back. She looked terrible. Like how she looked when her childhood friend Luke betrayed her. "D.H.S.A. I think." I felt numb. I hadn't told her the letters on the guy on Olympus' shirt, just that he had a patch with an acronym on it. Annabeth went back to her story, "He said he was here to talk to me about Mount Tam." That was the place where the Titans tried to raise their palace. "He said my father had already been detained and my stepmother and her kids were probably going to be locked away for the rest of their lives. He said I was a special case. I went for my knife but-" her voice broke, "he pulled a gun on me!" She started to cry again, "He shot and it hit the wall right next to me. I stupidly dropped my knife. 'Keep that up and I can't guarantee your family will live' he said. He kept talking. I don't know what he said. I was starring down the barrel of his gun from across the room. When he left I went to get you." She started shaking, "Another inch and- Percy I thought I was going to die!"

I was angry and scared and confused and a whole bunch of other emotions all at once. I tried to focus on how happy I was that Annabeth was alright. She was still crying. I stroked her hair and told her it was alright, but the truth was I wasn't sure. Who would come after her with a gun? Why was her father arrested? Who were the- Gah! people with the acronym? Annabeth calmed down.

"Sorry…" she said again.

"Don't worry about it," I told her, "I don't think I could have held it together as well as you have if it happened to me." That would have been true if it weren't for the fact that bullets (I hope after that dream) can't harm me unless they hit my weak spot. Half-bloods can fight dragons and monitors and legions of the undead (most of us have), but fighting a mortal with a gun? She had to feel so helpless. The best a half-blood's got ageist a gun would be a bow and she didn't have one. That's scary! But monsters never use guns. The worst you have to deal with is a spray of poison.

"Thanks Seaweed Brain," she said and she kissed me. She'd be okay.

We got to San Francisco by five o'clock. The outside of the house looked okay, but inside some of the furniture was overturned. Annabeth's family, minus her father, was sitting in the kitchen. When Mrs. Chase saw us she ran to Annabeth and nearly knocked her over with a hug.

I felt happy for her for a minute, but then someone else stepped into the room. "Nice to meet you in the flesh, Jackson," he said. It was the guy on Olympus! He smiled at me as Mrs. Chase tried to shield Annabeth. "How's your cheek feeling?" he asked with a sinister smile.

"What have you done with my father?" Annabeth demanded.

"He's fine," the guy said. He was dressed like a soldier, but he looked my age. He looked around the room, focusing on the overturned armchair and smashed glass coffee table. He looked kind of disappointed. "Sorry about the mess," he said, "Some of our guys take their jobs a little too seriously." He looked at Mrs. Chase. "We'll replace the coffee table and you'll be compensated." That didn't sound much like "we're going to lock you up and throw away the key" to me.

"I just want my husband back," Mrs. Chase said firmly.

The soldier guy looked sad. "I respect Dr. Chase," he said, "His service in 'Nam and Desert Storm has been a model for my career. But he's committed a very serious crime and two people died as a result."

"That's a lie!" Annabeth shouted.

"What are you going to do with him?" Mrs. Chase asked, having to restrain Annabeth.

The soldier got that disappointed look again. "Under the circumstances, they should be lenient. I'll do what I can." He sighed heavily, like he was trying to be optimistic for our sake. "He might just get a slap on the wrist, I hope."

"Who the heck are you?" I finally asked.

He looked at me with distain, but it passed. He reached out his hand and said, "Jack Byron." I shook his hand and immediately felt ill. I clutched my head and stumbled. Once I got my thoughts straight I saw Jack Byron smiling at me, his hands crossed over his chest. "That's for peeking into my mind this morning," he said in a sickly sweet tone.

* * *

This is a short chapter, but I still like it. I was going to go farther but this just seemed like a better place to stop.


	3. Chapter 2 We See the Spy Secretary

All bow before the mighty Epicanth! (Ignore me, I'm insane.)

* * *

I was so mad I couldn't see straight. Ironically, it was Annabeth who helped me keep it together. Jack said he would take us to Annabeth's dad. We loaded into a black SUV with tinted windows. Annabeth and I were sitting in the middle row of seats and Jack was driving. He looked at me in the rear-view mirror and saw me glaring at him.

"What's the matter Jackson?" he asked smiling at me, "Still humming form our handshake?"

I wanted to strangle him. "What did I even do?"

"I already told you."

"It's not like I can control my dreams!"

He stopped smiling. "That's right, I forgot half-breeds can't control where their little minds wander."

Now Annabeth wanted to kill him. I was curious about what he said though. "But aren't you a half-blood?"

"I'm human!" he said distastefully. It was the most emotion I had heard from him.

I was still kind of mad, but now I was curious too. "You shot Ares," I said. He grunted, which I took as his way of saying yes when he was angry. "And it hurt him," I continued, "how come?"

"If I could tell you that, Dr. Chase wouldn't be in any trouble."

I didn't know what he was getting at, but Annabeth did. Then again, she got everything before I did. I must of looked confused, because at a red light Jack looked back at me and said, "Hint, hint."

It still took me a while to figure it out. Then I got it. "Celestial Bronze bullets!"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that," he said.

"What?"

Annabeth leaned over and whispered to me, "That means 'you didn't hear it from me.'"

"But why is he in trouble for that?" I asked, "How could that get anyone killed?"

"We wanted to keep the full bronze jacket rounds we use under wraps," Jack told us, "But they were used by the Doctor on Mount Tamalpais. The monsters wised up and we didn't know until it was too late."

You'd think someone would get choked up when they were talking about a dead friend, but Jack was just as emotionless as ever. Annabeth gave me a look that told me she was thinking the same thing. Then something dawned on me.

"Who is 'we'?" Annabeth asked. She beat me to the punch.

"The public calls us Big Brother…" Jack said. He didn't seem too happy about the name. Like an embarrassing nickname your mom gives you when your six and you never live it down. Don't ask!

Annabeth looked shocked. I kind of knew why… "Like the 'spy on you when you're asleep' Big Brother?" she stammered. Yeah, I'd heard of them. I gulped waiting for the answer.

"Given our need for secrecy, we don't do well with," he paused, "public relations. All those horrible stories you hear about us? Most of them aren't true. Like, seventy-five percent aren't true." Which meant 25% were true. I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. Part of me didn't even want to know. "Though technically we don't exist, blah, blah, blah, plausible deniability, we're really the Department of Supernatural and Human Affairs." I created the acronym in my head. D.S.H.A. Annabeth was closer, go figure.

"What's going to happen to my dad?" Annabeth almost always referred to her dad as "Father." She must have been really worried. But I could see she was finally calming down.

"Well, nothing permanent."

We arrived at a nondescript building after a long traffic filled drive. Apparently this was the secret headquarters for some top secret government organization. It kind of reminded me of DOA studios with how nonchalant and ordinary looking it was. Inside was a reception desk in a lifeless white room with no furniture. Jack flashed a badge and the female receptionist let us through. The next room looked like spy central to me.

Computers and TVs flashed surveillance camera feeds, video conferences, and statistics so fast even my A.D.H.D. brain had trouble keeping up.

"Dr. Chase is in interrogation," Jack pointed, "this way."

Annabeth looked like she was about to faint. "Interrogation?"

"Relax. We're not water boarding him, or electro-shocking him, or beating him." She was about to say something else when he cut her off, "We're talking to him. That's it!"

They really were just talking to him. The interrogation room looked normal. It was the kind you'd see on a TV crime drama like _Law & Order_. Two guys dressed like Jack were talking to Dr. Chase on the other side of a two-way mirror. One had light brown hair and brown eyes. The other guy was blond and had dark blue eyes. The blond guy looked really mad and was doing most of the talking.

I could hear the blond yelling, but I couldn't understand a word he said. I thought he was speaking in code. Later Annabeth said it was legal speak. Same thing. Suddenly, the blond guy grabbed Dr. Chase by the collar of his aviator's jacket. The other guy pulled him off, which was good, because I was just about to uncap Riptide. The calmer guy told the blond to take a walk. He stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

Jack stopped him. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"I lost Natalie because of him!" the blond growled, "I lost her because his daughter mattered more to him then the lives of everyone in this building! Is that fair?" Annabeth took that like a ton of bricks. The blond didn't notice her, or me, who was again about to uncap Riptide.

"This is your own fault," Jack said in a serious, but calm tone, "You got too close to her. You should have known better."

"Well, sorry I can't be the perfect little soldier like you!" he said and ran off into the crowd.

Jack called after him, "Tom!" but he was already gone. Jack turned to me next. "Put that away," he told me. Suddenly I realized I had uncapped Riptide without even noticing.

The other guy who was in with Dr. Chase came out and told Annabeth she could talk to her dad. She ran into the interrogation room and hugged him. It was about that time I remembered how angry I was.

"I gotta bone to pick with you guys!" I said in my most intimidating voice (which was pretty good since I became invulnerable, if I do say so myself). I didn't get the reaction I wanted, despite my best effort. Jack and the other guy just kind of looked at each other for a minute, then back at me.

"I'm Wills Trace," the guy next to Jack said. He reached out his hand and smiled, "You're Percy Jackson, right? It's a pleasure."

"Don't patronize me!" I demanded.

Will sighed, "Fine, what's on your mind, kid?"

I didn't like being called "kid," especially since he didn't look that much older than me. "You jerks terrorized Annabeth and kidnapped her dad and-"

Will cut me off, "Whoa, whoa, slow down! What's this about terrorizing?"

"The guy who told her about her dad shot at her!"

They both groaned in unison and said, "Eddy!"

"Now I get why the old man wants me in the east," Jack moaned.

"I'll talk to him," Will said kind of to both of us. He walked off and I lost sight of him in the crowd.

Not long after Annabeth came out with her dad. "What's the verdict, sir?" Jack asked.

Dr. Chase smiled weakly, "Well, let's just say my favor tab has been closed."

Jack nodded, "It's been an honor to meet you Doctor, but I have to get going." Dr. Chase nodded at him and he left.

Dr. Chase looked at me and Annabeth next, "As for you two, you should get to camp."

"I can't leave now!" Annabeth protested.

Dr. Chase shook his head, "No buts, you need to get to camp." Annabeth didn't seem to like that idea, but she gave in and nodded sadly. "I'll be fine," he assured.

As we were about to leave, Dr. Chase put his hand on my shoulder. I turned and he leaned in and whispered to me, "You make my daughter very happy. I'm glad for both of you."

"Uh, thanks," I whispered back.

He was smiling, but I could see a warning look in his eyes, "And it's going to stay that way, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good boy," he said and patted me on the back. I hurried to catch up with Annabeth. Invulnerable or not, talking to your girlfriend's dad is _always_ scary!

* * *

Three for three so far. Next chapter gets back to Camp Half-Blood and more into the normal flow of things. But I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. (Insert evil laugh here.)


	4. Chapter 3 Jack Goes Lion Hunting

I've got nothing…

* * *

Annabeth and I headed back to Camp Half-Blood. We didn't say much on the way. I kept thinking about what Jack said about going east. I wondered if I'd bump into him sometime. I didn't know what to make of him or any of the other Big Brother guys.

When we got to camp many of our friends greeted us. Now that I think about it, I think this was the first time I'd come to camp when there _wasn't_ a crisis. The Stoll brothers came out to greet us, as well as Nico, Rachel, and many of the other campers who made it through last year. (Clarisse was conveniently missing.) It's nice to get a hero's welcome and everything, but frankly, it's just nice to have so many friends.

Chiron and Mr. D were sitting at the Big House playing pinochle as usual. Chiron waved at us from his wheelchair. Mr. D just kind of scowled at us, but from him, that's like him leaping for joy to see us.

There were a lot of new campers this year. Chiron said that there would be twice as many campers this year. Well, he was way off. There had to be at least four times as many. It was kind of intimidating. When I passed, I could hear a lot of the new ones muttering stuff like "That's him!" which made me feel good.

"Your reputation precedes you," Annabeth smiled at me, but I could hear from her voice that she was a little jealous (That, I have to admit, also made me feel good).

Before we even got to the volley ball court, a voice started speaking in my head. "Percy, please tell me you're at camp!" the voice of my best friend Grover pleaded.

I stopped and closed my eyes. "Grover?" I asked in my head, "Is that you buddy?"

"Oh, thank the gods! Percy, I need a little help!"

"Where are you?"

"I'm right in front of Half-Blood Hill with a demigod, but a monster is on our tail!"

"Got it!" I broke the empathy link that allowed Grover and I to communicate when one of us was in trouble. "Annabeth," I said to get her attention, "Grover's in trouble, we have to get to the top of Half-Blood Hill." We ran off to meet Grover. Just another day at camp!

When we got to the top of the hill, we saw Grover leading a small girl by the hand. They were running at full speed. The girl tripped and pulled Grover down with her. I rushed out to help them, but didn't see any monsters. Still, I was careful; I could have been invisible for all I knew.

"You okay, G-man?" I asked as I helped Grover to his hooves. Oh, that's right, did I mention Grover is a satyr?

"Percy!" he said gasping for breath, "You have no Idea how glad I am to see you!" He turned to the girl he was leading toward camp, "Don't worry, Lacy. My good buddy Percy'll take care of that lion for us." The girl had long black hair that covered over one eye and olive colored skin. But most of all, she looked really, _really_ scared.

"Lion?" I asked Grover, "Not the Nemean-" I couldn't even finish. The Nemean Lion came barreling down the road straight at us. I had fought this thing once before, and it wasn't fun. In the back of my head I was kind of glad I had given up the pelt I got from it last time. I'm sure seeing me wear its skin like a coat would not have put me on its good side. I uncapped Riptide, but I knew that wouldn't do much good. The Nemean Lion's fur was like steel.

When it saw me it stopped and growled at me. Oh, good, I thought, he remembers me! It reared back to pounce, but before it did, an ear splitting bang filled the valley. The lion was knocked over and fell with a crash. The giant creature started to dissolve into dust, leavening only the pelt behind. See, when a monster is killed, their essence goes back to Tartarus where they are reborn. The pelt stayed behind as a spoil of war.

I looked in the direction of the blast and saw a bunch of those D.S.H.A. guys rush out from the trees. One of them walked along leading Annabeth by the arm. They had assault rifles at the ready. One closed on the Nemean Lion pelt, then put two fingers up to his ear and said, "That's a kill. Nice shooting as always, boss." There was a pause, then all the D.S.H.A. soldiers started cracking up. Their "boss" must have told one heck of a joke.

The guy leading Annabeth walked up to me, and to my surprise, it was that Will guy! He pushed Annabeth toward me and smiled. "Can you tell your girlfriend not to spy on us?" he asked in the sickly sweet tone Jack had used on me earlier.

That didn't go over well with either of us, but before we could protest, we saw another figure leave the woods. He had a huge rifle resting on his shoulder. The gun was longer than he was tall! As he passed, each Big Brother soldier did a quick solute. He must have been the boss they were talking about. What shocked me was it was Jack.

"Nice one-shot, boss," one of the soldiers said.

Jack was completely straight-faced. "That's all you need with a twenty millimeter," he said.

Chiron rode out- oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Chiron's a centaur- to see what all the noise was about. He looked around trying to assess what had just happened. There was me, Annabeth, Grover, the half-blood he was escorting, and twenty or so D.S.H.A. soldiers, including Jack, scattered all over the side of Half-Blood Hill, not to mention the Nemean Lion pelt.

Chiron road up to Jack and asked, "Are you the people from the Department of Supernatural and Human Affairs?"

"That's us," Will said.

"Good, we have a temporary cabin set up for you. I'll take you to it."

"Wait a second," I spoke up, "Why did you set up a temporary cabin for them?"

"Oh, that's right," Chiron realized, "You weren't here when Mr. D and I announced it. These mortals are here as a good faith gesture from your mortal government. They'll be staying here as if they were regular campers."

If that shock wasn't bad enough, that night I had another nightmare.

* * *

What a twist!


	5. Chapter 4 Annabeth Takes a Dive

This chapter starts off in the dream. I didn't want to confuse anyone. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time.

* * *

"There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,

"It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,

"It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,

"For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships."

I was in some meadow. I had no clue were. I could hear a raspy voice reciting poetry I couldn't understand. I couldn't see who it was who was speaking. The sound was coming from somewhere behind me. Maybe I was seeing the scene through the speaker's eyes, I thought.

"Kemsyt!" the speaker shouted. He turned around, but I didn't. I tried to will myself to turn around, but I could barely move. "Kemsyt, you slime, where are you?"

"Here, general," said a weak sounding man. I didn't like that I couldn't see this "general." I couldn't see Atlas, and he was called General. But the voice was different, it wasn't him.

"You're as useless as ever," the general chastised, "and twice as stupid! Have you procured the workers I need for the project?"

"Of course, general. The mortals are proving quite industrious."

"Of course they are," the general said happily, "Mortals are so easily controlled. I didn't even have to manipulate their minds with this Mist that's come about."

The Mist is kind of a barrier. When something crazy happens, like a monster attack, it changes the image to something normalish.

"Has Kamos gotten to Miami yet?" the general continued.

"He will by tomorrow."

"Without that cursed Atlantian, nothing will stop me from claiming what that swine Poseidon promised me.

"Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,

"Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,"

The general let out a wicked laugh that startled me from my sleep. I was sweating bullets. I got up and dressed, and left my cabin to get some fresh air.

Once again, I had woken up way earlier than usual. Only a few early risers were up. One of them was Annabeth, so I decided I'd spend the morning with her. She was down by the lake as usual, but what got my attention was that she was talking to another guy. Now, I not jealous or anything, but this guy was getting way too close for comfort. I was glad when Annabeth push him away. Apparently he was to close for her comfort too. I relaxed and jogged over to them.

"Come on, cutie," the Hermes camper said (I could tell because he looked like he could have been Luke's twin). He tried to get closer again, "You don't have to be so cold. Would you hold it against me if I told you you were beautiful?"

"Yes!" she said, shoving him away harder this time.

Finally I was next to them. "What's going on here?" I asked.

"Oh, nothin' bro," the Hermes camper said, "I was just-"

"He was just leaving," Annabeth cut him off. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek, "I'm glad you're up, Percy." She put special emphasis on my name, like she wanted to drive home who I was. I liked the attention, but I had a feeling it was more for the Hermes boy then me. A less then subtle way of saying "back off." The guy shrugged and stumbled off. Annabeth sighed and let go of me. "Thanks, Percy," she said, "That guy was obnoxious."

"Who was he?" I asked.

"He's new," she said, "But he knew who I was, and who you were, and he was still all over me." Annabeth groaned in disgust.

"Well, _I_ don't blame him," I teased. She jabbed me in the side. "So what's his name?"

"Ron something," she said in a tone that I could tell said "change the subject." "Why are you up so early anyway?"

"I had another dream."

"About Jack?"

"No."

"Good," she stuck up her nose and started toward the pier, "I don't like that guy, or his friends."

"Surely we're not all as bad as Jack," a mature female voice said.

We looked down at the end of the dock and saw a D.S.H.S. soldier skipping stones across Long Island Sound. How did I not notice her? She had long, blond hair that was tied into a pony tail. It was hard to tell with the jumpsuit, but she looked slim. Not anorexic slim, but she just looked too small to be a soldier. When she turned around and I saw her face, it was, well striking. She was no Annabeth, but she was something close. She looked so young and so mature at the same time. Her eyes were emerald green and did that soul pricing thing some really intimidating people can do, like she was looking through you.

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked in the tone she used to use with Rachel until the end of last year.

"Katharine," she said, "And you're Annabeth Chase." They eyed each other like they were about to fight. Katharine skipped another stone. "You're not making me feel awful welcome."

"Good!"

"Annabeth!" I said in surprise.

"What?" she asked me, "I don't like them being here."

"If it's any consolation, we don't want to be here either."

"It's not!"

"Why are you here?" I cut in, trying to keep them both calm.

"The attack last summer caught the old man's attention," Katharine said.

"And who's the old man?" Annabeth asked.

"My boss's boss."

"Oh, thanks," Annabeth snapped, "That just clears everything up!"

"Annabeth," I said taking her arm, "Let's go, forget about her."

"No," Katharine said, "If she's got something to say, she should say it."

"I do have something to say: get out."

"I bet you think you can make me."

"Now you're asking for it."

"Do it! You won't!"

I tried to get them to stop, but they were too busy arguing to notice me. I had to hold Annabeth back from attacking Katharine. I held her back for a while, but she broke free and charged her. In one fluid motion, she flipped Annabeth over her back and into Long Island Sound. She came up coughing and spitting. I rushed over to help as Katharine watched.

"As half-breeds go Percy Jackson, you're not so bad," Katharine told me, "If you ever feel like trading up, give me a call." With that she strode away. She moved so gracefully, like every step was important and well thought out.

I wasn't sure what to make of that morning, but one thing's for sure. My life just got a _lot_ more complicated.

* * *

Wow! That exceeded all my expectations. This may be my new favorite chapter! This is also my third chapter completed in one day. I'm on a roll.


	6. Chapter 5 Jack Tells us a Secret

I have a lot in writing, but I've been I've been procrastinating on getting it down here. I should get it done 'cause I like what I have and would like feedback.

* * *

Annabeth was so angry she was shaking, and her face was scarlet. "Who does she think she is?" she growled, "'Trade up' she says. Humph!"

She was still soaked from her unexpected dip in the Sound. She looked like she was about to punch someone (which concerned me because I was the only other one there). We headed back to the cabins so she could change clothes. She spent the whole walk grumbling to herself.

By now most of the campers were up and getting ready for morning activities. It seemed like everyone at camp was starring right at her. That didn't seem to improve her mood. I gave people warning looks, you know, tried to tell them not to go there. No one was dumb enough to ask her what happened, so she didn't attack anyone. When she got to the Athena cabin she flung the door open and slammed it behind her. In the interest of self-preservation I stayed outside. I wouldn't want to be in that cabin right now…

"Trouble in paradise?" an annoying voice asked. I recognized it before I even turned to face her. Clarisse was watching us from the Ares cabin. She was a big, burly girl who used to pick on me. She had become less of a jerk over the years, but she still wasn't my friend.

"What does that mean?" I asked irritably.

"Did you two have a little fight?" Clarisse asked in a baby voice, "I would have paid to see that!"

"We're not fighting, Clarisse!" I told her. I could tell a lot of campers were eavesdropping. That made me angry (almost as angry as when I last saw Ares).

"Sure you're not."

When Annabeth came out she said, "Come on," and we walked off into the woods.

We walked alone for a while, not saying much. After about fifteen minutes we stopped at this rock pile called Zeus' Fist. Annabeth took my hand and looked at me. "You wouldn't leave me, would you?" she asked.

The question caught me totally by surprise. Annabeth was always so confident. It never occurred to me that she might feel threatened. "Of course not!" I said.

"Are you…" she stopped, "Are you happy we're together?"

I was dumbfounded. This wasn't like her at all. Most of the time she joked (at least I hope it's a joke) that I was lucky she put up with me. "Annabeth, why would you say that?"

"That's not an answer, Percy!" she said in a hurt voice.

"Of course I'm happy! I-" I wasn't used to this kind of thing, "I love you, Annabeth." Neither of us were into the really lovie-dovie stuff like Aphrodite kids were. But Annabeth seemed so hurt. It was almost like she wasn't herself.

"Thank you, Percy," she said and hugged me. She traced the little circle on my back with her fingers.

I hugged her back, but I was starting to get really confused. "What's gotten into you?" I asked.

"I-I don't know," she let go of me, "This isn't like me, is it?" At least I knew she hadn't been replaced by a clone or something. "I feel really self-conscious. A voice in my head keeps telling me 'you're not good enough for him. You're holding him back.' What's the matter with me?"

"Sounds like you have been talking to Katharine," Jack, who had apparently overheard us as he was passing by said.

"When did you get here?" Annabeth asked turning bright red.

He didn't seem all that interested in us. It seemed like he was looking for something. Not combing through the leaves or anything, more like the way someone looks for someone who is playing hide and seek.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Katharine's specialty is subliminal suggestion. She can convince almost anyone of almost anything with nothing but the power of her mind."

Annabeth took a deep breath to compose herself and then said, "How is that possible?"

"She is psychic like me," Jack said without hesitation.

"There is no way you're psychic," Annabeth scoffed. All of a sudden her knife flew out of its sheath and into Jack's hand. Both of us stood stunned to silence.

Jack grinned. "Your lack of faith disturbs me," he said in a deep voice.

I came back with something really intelligent like, "Oh my gods, you're psychic."

"Give that back to me right now!" Annabeth demanded. That knife was very special to her. Luke gave it to her when they first met.

"As you wish," Jack said in the same tone as before. He let go of the knife and it just floated below his open palm. He pushed the air and the knife levitated to Annabeth. She plucked the knife out of the air and gripped it so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"I'll **kill **her!"

Jack looked at me. I was still stupefied by his demonstration. "What's with you, Jackson? Did you think humans were helpless?"

"Kinda," I shrugged.

"Typical half-breed."

"Don't you mean half-_blood_?" I asked.

Jack started to turn away. "You heard me."

"Well" Annabeth said before Jack could leave, "you'll get to show us how not helpless you are."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow night we play capture the flag." Jack smiled. It was the first time I had seen him smile instead of smirk. Jack began to walk away. He still looked like he was looking for something. He'd kick a pile of leaves or sneak around a tree as if someone was following him.

"What are you looking for," I asked.

He looked back at me and said, "Loose ends."

* * *

I've had that chapter on paper for the longest time. But since I had already written it, it bored me to type it, hence the wait. But now it's finally done. On a completely unrelated note, I have a poll on my profile about one of my other stories. Please vote if you care to.


	7. Chapter 6 I Get Read Like a Book

Here's yet another of my stories I really should work on but don't. Exposition chapters don't really get you energized though, so yeah… that. Also I think my ire at pure-blooded human characters being worthless cannon fodder has cooled somewhat, though that's more a general issue I have rather than a Percy Jackson specific one. All in all though, I have to get back to work. (Thank you self-imposed schedule!)

* * *

Most of the rest of the day was a lot more relaxed. I was the new instructor of the swordsmanship class. My dip in the River Styx didn't just make me indestructible, I was stronger and faster than I had ever been. I was also a better swordsman.

I had become kind of like Luke when I first came to Camp Half-Blood (only not evil). I was someone everybody admired. If this had been five years ago, I might have let it go to my head. But after all I had been through since then, it really didn't matter to me.

Anyway, I had trouble teaching my first class thanks to my twelve-foot tall hellhound Mrs. O'Leary. She shredded most of the practice dummies like they were hellhound chew toys! It was also strange using the wooden practice swords, rather than Riptide. Truth be told, I really couldn't remember teaching anybody anything in my life when my first class filed in. It was easy enough for me to fight with a sword, but I wasn't quite sure how to teach others. I hoped it would come to me by the time I had to start teaching. I managed to not make a total fool of myself, so I'd say I did well…

Lacy was in my first class. As it turned out, she was a natural with a sword. She was strong for her size and her strokes were swift and precise. As impressive as it was though, she wasn't perfect. She got carried away more than a few times and wacked a few people with her practice sword (including me). Still, for a twelve-year-old, she was good. Perhaps better than I was back then.

I decided to let Lacy stay after the lesson was over for some private instruction. Against my better judgment, I gave her a real sword and let her lose on what was left of the dummies. At first she was amazing. She ripped the dummies apart worse than Mrs. O'Leary in spite of the full armor they were wearing. But once again she lost control and, due to the extra weight, it went flying right past my head and into the wall behind me.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" Lacy said franticly. "It just slipped out of my hands and-"

She would have kept going, but I put up my hand to stop her. "You need to learn some self control," I told her. Her head sank and I smiled, "But you have amazing potential."

Her face lit up, "Do you really think so?"

"I know so."

She closed her eyes and twirled. "Oh, I hope you're listening Daddy, whoever you are," she wished out loud, "_The_ Percy Jackson sais _I_ have amazing potential!"

"_The_" Percy Jackson? I had to keep myself from laughing. It was kind of funny to me to hear my name said with such, I don't know, reverence. Like I was some kind of celebrity. "So you're unclaimed?" I asked, than immediately silently cursed my ADHD brain for asking a stupid question that shouldn't have been asked… again! I really need to learn to stop doing that.

Lacy stopped twirling and looked at me sadly. "Not yet," she said with just a hint of hurt in her voice. She brushed the hair from her face and it fell back into place over her left eye. I'd seen her do it a few times before.

"How old are you?" I asked. Last year, as a reward for helping to defeat Kronos, I made the gods promise to claim all their kids by the time they were thirteen. Now there weren't many unclaimed half-bloods anymore.

"I'm twelve," Lacy said in almost a moan.

"Then that means you don't have long to wait," I told her. That seemed to help a little. There were three reasons for a god or goddess wouldn't claim their child. Most of the time it was just laziness. Sometimes they were ashamed of their kids. That made my blood boil. How could be so ashamed of your own kids you wouldn't even acknowledge them? I knew for Lacy it was the third one, though. She was something special, I could just tell.

"Maybe my dad is Poseidon," Lacy said hopefully. "It would be so great to be your sister!"

To tell the truth, I didn't like that Idea. I wanted to believe Poseidon loved my mom enough not to sleep around like all the other gods. It may have been a futile hope, but it made me feel better.

I had a thirty-minute class every hour on the hour. All my students were people I didn't know. New half-bloods. And I was a hero to all of them. Okay, maybe I let it go to my head just a little…

My last class of the day filed out. It was rough at times, but I through it without embarrassing myself. _Too_ badly… I was cleaning up when Jack entered the arena and Mrs. O'Leary growled at him. I was about ready to tell Mrs. O'Leary not to maul him when he raised his palm up to her nose. She sniffed it than licked his hand with her giant tongue.

"Good Dog," Jack said as he scratched her behind her ear.

"This isn't a shooting range you know," I said.

"I know," he said ", but this will never run out of bullets."

I saw a sword sheathed at his belt. It seemed shorter and a little wider than it should have been. I looked at his steady expression. "So you're a spy, a sharp shooter, a psychic, _and_ a swordsman?" He nodded. "This I'd like to see."

Jack smiled at me. It made my skin crawl. Well, some of it anyway… "Is that a challenge?" I uncapped riptide. He unsheathed his weird sword. What should have been a blade was rounded, like a cap of polished silver. Jack flicked his wrist and the silver-looking part popped open to be the hand guard. The blade slid out and stopped with a jerk. The blade was wider than the hilt, so there had to be some kind of magic involved. I wasn't really paying attention to that at the time though, I was focused on the blade.

"It's just like…" I breathed.

"It's like Backbiter?" Jack finished. "Don't worry, this one wasn't doused in baby's blood or anything morbid like that." Kronos' scythe was fused steel and Celestial Bronze. So was Jack's sword. Instead of having half-bronze and half-steel, it was a regular steel sword with an edge of bronze. The steel under the bronze was probably sharp too. "While that deprives my 'Duel' of that charming soul rending feature, it does make it more stable. I prefer our method."

"And what is 'your method'?" I asked.

"Classified."

"Of course."

Jack and I squared off. I attacked first. I tried to bring Riptide down on his head, but he had already moved. He swung next. I swear he was trying to take my head off, but I was able to duck in more than enough time. I jabbed next, but again he moved before I even had a chance of hitting him. Quickly I noticed that he was trying to get behind me as he stepped out of the way of my attacks. Suddenly I realized if he's psychic, then he might be able to…

"Read your mind?" I felt a pit form in my stomach. "Don't worry," Jack said, "Just trying to make a point!" He tried to stab me right between the eyes. I was just able to block with Riptide in time. "A cursed blade…?"

"What are you mumbling about?" I asked.

"A cursed sword for a cursed swordsman. You're a walking time bomb." I was just about to say something when Jack answered "No, I won't give you a straight answer."

He was reading my mind again. That was pretty annoying. Still, Jack was a really good fighter. I was stronger, faster, and more skilled than he was, but not by much. And when you consider I got a lot of my strength and speed (and probably some of my technique) from the River Styx, that was impressive. His telepathy pretty much evened us out, which made me very glad this wasn't a real fight.

We went on sparing for a while. I'm not sure how long, I lost track of time. We didn't really finish our fight so much as collapse simultaneously mid-stroke. I looked up and noticed the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. Most of the camp was there beside Chiron and Mr. D.

"Dinner time, boss," one of the D.S.H.A. agents said.

Jack and I hoisted ourselves tiredly up. "Not bad, Jackson," he said and walked off.

* * *

Ugh, finally. Thank heavens for my self-imposed schedule. So yeah, exposition isn't really that fun, but there you go. I hope by now at least a few things are starting to line up. There are certain themes (and the fact that Jack's name is a pun) that get established here, and I think it went well enough. I also got to emulate the scene in Gundam Wing where Trowa (or Trent or No Name or whatever you want to call him) stuck his hand in the lion cage and started petting the lion. And now that I think of it, the scene here is to the same end. "Beasts only bare their fangs at enemies. They are true to their feelings." Such a great quote. Hmm. Now that I think about it, Jack and Trowa are a lot alike. I don't know, maybe I'll have Jack get amnesia or something…


	8. Chapter 7 Rachel Meets Some Old Friends

This is the last of the material I wrote for this story. I wrote it like, two years ago, so forgive the lapse in quality compared to my other recent work. This is also more exposition, but it should be the last of it if all goes well. (Technically the capture the flag game is still exposition in a way, but at least it isn't treading water.) So yeah. This probably won't be so good, but I hope it'll pick up after this.

* * *

Dinner was so different. For one, the Hermes table wasn't so crowded anymore. I felt a little personal pride at that. As the god of travelers, unclaimed Half-Bloods stayed at the Hermes cabin and ate at the Hermes table. Or, they used to. The biggest change was that there were no more assigned tables. Each god and goddess, no matter how minor or unimportant they were got a cabin. The tables were another matter. With only one or two kids per cabin for most of the newcomers, (some not even that many) it was decided that it was too much work to expand the dining area. Instead, it was decided that it would just be easier to just use the space that we already had. Or, so I'd been told. I couldn't help but wonder how much this was Mr. D's idea. All that said, most of the kids sat at they're old tables. Traditions, especially old ones, are hard to quit. Or, so I've been told…

The former Poseidon table, my table, was the only really different one. Annabeth, Nico, Grover, and Rachel all surrounded me. My closest friends still at camp. Dinner wasn't so lonely anymore. I kept getting mixed feelings about how my life was changing. I should have felt so at peace, but I felt storm clouds building. There was an ominous feeling. I don't think anyone else noticed. And every time that feeling crept over me, my eyes would wander to the former Artemis table.

_They_ were there. The "D.S.H.A." people were all sitting together since it was left empty. There were all different ages, from kids in their late teens, to people who looked like they went to high school with Chiron. Unlike the Half-Blood tables, that had mostly siblings who looked alike, D.S.H.A. was as diverse a group as they come. They all laughed, and joked, and told stories like everyone else. They seemed like robots or some kind of crazy whenever I saw them. But now they seemed almost… normal. One thing they didn't do was sacrifice a portion of their meal to the gods, something that every camper was expected to do. I guess if Jack could talk down to Athena, he wouldn't feel the need to give her, or any of the other gods anything. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who noticed that. Those people were getting more and more creepy. The fact that I saw literal storm clouds gathering in the distance, meaning Zeus probably noticed and was probably insulted, didn't help my nerves any.

In spite of all that, there was a lighthearted feeling at dinner, especially at my- well, our table. Only Annabeth, who was still brooding about what had happened before didn't smile. I tried to cheer her up, but she made it clear that she really didn't want me to cheer her up. When she gets into this bad a mood, it's best to stay out of her way.

After a while, I noticed Rachel darting nervous glances at the D.S.H.A. table. "What's wrong, Rachel?" I asked her when she glanced over again.

She jumped a little at the sound of her name. "Oh… nothing."

"See something you like over there?" Nico asked, winking and nudging her.

Rachel scoffed, "You're so immature."

Without warning, something sailed through the air and landed on our table. It was a fork. I heard Jack as he was getting up from his seat call someone else something I'd rather not repeat. He walked over to our table to pick up the fork. In passing, he said "Hey, Liz," as he was turning to leave. I didn't have time to be confused before Jack stopped half a step away and turned in surprise. "Rachel?"

Rachel's head sunk. "Oh, my gods…!"

I saw Will notice what was going on and shoot out of his seat. Before I knew it, he was next to Jack at our table. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare!"

"Hi, Wills…" Rachel said. She looked irritated, but she also wore a sincere smile. Her tone was kind, but also kind of tired. Like he was an annoying little brother, or an exboyfr- I looked at Nico. From the wicked grin on his face, I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was.

"Is this guy your boyfriend?" he asked with the widest smile I'd ever seen on him in a long time. Jack coughed, but I could tell he was camouflaging a laugh.

"He is **not** my boyfriend!" Rachel protested.

"Maybe we can catch up?" Will asked. Rachel just stuttered since Nico was pestering her, asking teasing questions, Grover and I were staring confused at her, and Will and Jack waiting for the answer. Only Annabeth stayed out of it, still giving Katelyn her death glare, I guess. That might have concerned me if I wasn't so confused at the time.

"Yeah, sure," she said finally, "I'll talk to you later…"

"Alright," Jack said, smiling, "Let's go, Billy. See you, Liz." They walked back to their table and like a switch, they were back to the way they were before. Like the whole incident never happened.

Nico was still pestering her well after they had left. Me, Grover, and Rachel just decided to ignore him. "You know them?" Grover asked.

"I don't want to talk about it…" Rachel's head was still hanging low and her face was starting to turn the color of her hair.

"Oh, yeah," Nico said confidently, "He's your boyfriend."

"Oh, shut up…" she moaned.

With all the grief she was getting from Nico, I decided to drop it. Grover did the same and eventually, Nico let it go. We changed the subject, but I didn't see the red in Rachel's cheeks didn't subside until the next morning. After everyone finished eating, Chiron stood up and addressed everyone. "Tomorrow night we will be playing our traditional game of capture the flag," he said. "If there are no objections, the game will be the Department of Supernatural and Human Affairs against our Camp Half-Blood."

"What do you think, boss?" one of the D.S.H.A. agents asked Jack.

Jack thought for only half a second, "Fine by me. We're in."

"All right, since you're so badly outnumbered, you may select two cabins to-" Chiron started.

"That won't be necessary," Jack said.

"A-are you sure?" Chiron asked.

"We're trained for long odds," Jack said.

"Alright," Chiron continued. "For those of you who don't know the rules; the creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic."

"Are there any weapons restrictions?" one of the D.S.H.A. agents asked.

"No," Chiron said, "But no lethal force."

D.S.H.A. seemed to like that. They erupted with laughter. As everyone cleared out, both sides confident of victory, Kathryn looked Annabeth dead in the eye and mouthed "You're all mine, curly cue." Annabeth sneered back at her, angrier than ever. This wasn't going to end well.

* * *

I edited and proofed a little and this turned out okay. This is also the closest I've come to missing a deadline. I'd better upload this before this A/N becomes ironic…


	9. Chapter 8 Anger Management and Grenades

I don't look forward to this story. I was angry when I started and (I know I've already said it, but) I broke one of my own rules when writing the first, say six chapters. I've grown since then, though, so I think I can put it back on track without starting over from the top. I need some constructive criticism to know if what I'm doing is working or not, *blah, blah, blah, reference to Duel 26 Author's Note*. Not that I expect anyone to listen, but yeah. That.

On an only slightly related note; I've finally seen the live action Percy Jackson movie. While it makes some unnecessary changes and has a gaping plot hole as a result, it was a good movie. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure how they're going to do the rest of the series with the radically changed continuity. (In a Scottish accent:) I look forward to your letters, Percy Jackson fans.

* * *

Camp Half-Blood outnumbered D.S.H.A. by more than five to one. There were never many Hunters, but we always evened the odds. Or at least that's what we did when I was there. I couldn't see how they could stand a chance. But still… They had some kind of dirty trick up their sleeve. Then again, dirty tricks are encouraged. My senses were improved by the Styx. I could see the D.S.H.A. soldiers getting into various positions in the darkness. The silhouettes dashed back and forth in the shadows.

I stood dead-center at the edge of the river. Annabeth picked a cautious strategy. Me and a few of our better fighters were going to launch a direct assault. Not enough to get through, she guessed, but enough to draw their attention. The Stoll brothers were supposed to sneak in in the confusion and get the flag. Everyone else was on defense. It was a cautious strategy; we didn't know the enemy's strength, so it's best to be conservative offensively until the situation can be assessed. If the initial attack fails, a new strategy can be implemented with the intel gathered.

I know what you're thinking; "Where'd Percy go? There's no way that was him talking." Apparently, some of that burning water of death seeped into my brain, because I barely understand myself when I talk about battles or fighting anymore. I still suck at chess, but I'm a champ at capture the flag now. Hazah.

So anyway, putting that into terms I can understand (it's sort of amazing that even after I find out I'm half god my life manages to get weird_er_ every few days), we were playing it safe since we didn't know what a bunch of psychic government agents were going to do in a (supposedly non-lethal) game of capture the flag. That was fine with me. I had a bad feeling something was going to go wrong. And not "oh no, we lost a game of capture the flag" wrong. More like "oh no, someone's horribly injured" wrong. Normally I'd get nervous before the game. Nothing bad after I survived it the first time, just some butterflies. But this time, I wasn't anywhere near nervous. Short of facing down the armies of hell or the king of the Titans, not much got under my skin anymore.

I heard the signal to start and sailed over the river in one bound easily. Before I could run off and cause the havoc I was instructed to, I saw shapes sail over my head. I turned just in time to see them explode with a bright flash and huge crack. I lost my night vision instantly from the light and was a little disoriented. It passed and I noticed more shapes, these people-sized, coming toward me. One of them tried to body check me into the ground. That backfired pretty badly when just a flick of my shoulder sent the offender into the ground instead of me. I tried to bring the hilt of my already drawn Riptide on the head of whoever it was, but he (or she for all I knew) had back flipped out of the way in time and vanished into my peripheral vision that was still filled with stars. The ringing in my ears started to be replaced with… gunfire? I shook my head hard to try to get rid of what was left of my daze. I looked back to our side of the river. There were more of those explosions and smaller flashes of guns firing.

Instinctively I ran back to defend my fellow campers. I couldn't believe D.S.H.A. were using guns! So much for non-lethal! As I ran my head cleared and I could start to hear voices. I tried to pick out voices of campers I knew to see who was still okay. I was wandering, knocking away soldiers and cleaving their guns with Riptide as I went along when I heard Jack's voice. I guess part of me really wanted to find him. Either for a rematch for the draw in the arena or to knock his block off for letting people shoot at my friends, I wasn't really sure. It looked like he was giving orders. When I heard him use Annabeth's name I was ready to tear his head off. I broke into a full-speed sprint and… I'll admit, I tried to split him in half. I knew he'd dodge it in time, but I don't think I would have cared at the time if he hadn't. He did though, and turned to me.

"I figured you'd be on the offence," he said to me _way_ too nonchalantly for my taste.

"Have you gone crazy?" I yelled over the sounds of battle all around us, "There's no killing allowed, you can't use guns!" Even though I'd been running for a while, I wasn't breathing hard. I was still ready to split Jack in half.

"Rubber bullets," he said, still calm as ever. "They hurt like hell, but won't kill."

"Well, what about the explosions?" I demanded, in no way satisfied.

"Flash-Bang grenades. Loud and bright, but non-lethal."

I was still angry. Maybe even more than I was before. I shook my head in disbelief, never letting down my guard or taking my eyes of the poisonous viper still staring at me. "You've just got an explanation for everything, don't you?"

He looked almost surprised by my comment. He smiled and just said, "Psychic." That was the last straw.

It's hard to describe a fight with someone who's reading your mind. Jack started to raise his gun before I moved in anticipation of me moving first. He shot his rubber bullets at me, but I got out of their way. I don't know if that was some kind of River Styx super speed, or if my reflexes were that good, but it didn't matter. The bullets hit a tree I ducked behind. The next moment I was right next to him. His gun, which I could now see was some kind of automatic rifle, turned toward me. I was faster and cut the barrel in half. I swung at the welder next. Jack ducked and drew his own sword. It's hard to remember the next part. We started fighting, but it's all just a blur. I know I hit him. Hard. I got a good swipe at his side, but he got up quick. He had to be wearing some kind of armor. I don't know if it was camp armor, or magic armor, or some kind of high-tech armor. I didn't really matter. Every kind of armor does the same thing. Still, I was hitting him pretty hard. I don't know how many times he hit me. Unless it knocks mw to the ground or something, I don't notice getting hit by anything in the heat of battle anymore.

He did throw me into a tree at some point. That's right. I, a demi-god son of Poseidon who bathed in the River Styx and helped stop the return of Kronos, was force pushed by a mortal psychic government agent while playing capture the flag at summer camp. I've learned to stop being surprised by my life. It's just too exhausting.

I knew I was winning. Jack was getting tired. All I thought about was winning. I didn't want to kill Jack or anything. Sure, I was mad, but not that mad. I don't think the idea that I could have killed him even entered my head. In retrospect, I guess that should have my first clue that something was wrong. I vaguely remember someone shouting my name. It wasn't until I felt someone's arms wrap around mine mid swing that I got my senses back. Jack was beat up pretty bad. I had his sword arm pinned under my foot. His other hand was up. Not in surrender, but ready to mind-punch me again if he had to. I looked over to see Annabeth holding me back from another sword stroke.

Jack flopped limp on the ground when he saw I wasn't going to attack again. "Did we win yet?" he called.

"Yes, sir," I heard an unfamiliar voice bark back. The soldier stepped towards us. "Back it up, killer," he said, trying to sound confident. I took my foot off Jack's hand and the soldier helped him up. They and the rest of D.S.H.A. walked as a group towards the edge of the forest. I heard one of them tell the badly limping Jack, "You got your ass whipped, boss." Jack told him quietly to shut up.

Annabeth had let go of me at some point and most of the campers were leaving the forest. I looked at her in out relative solitude. She looked worried. "What happened to you back there, Percy?" she asked.

"I… I don't know."

* * *

Without even looking back at the previous chapters, I can tell the quality is drastically different. This is more the kind of thing I'd be proud of. Ironically, Jack seemed invincible until now, but now that he gets the tar beat out of him the quality goes up. Huh. Maybe he is a government conspiracy!


	10. Unfortunate Note

Okay, I've got some news that'll probably make all .00053 of you who read this kind of unhappy. Hahaha! I'm just kidding! I know I'm talking to myself. Anyway, I'm putting this story on hold for a while. A long while, probably. There are a lot of reasons for this. To placate all 0.00053 of you (I wish I had that many readers) I'll just give you the list.

1: I started this because I was angry. I can't stand stories that present humans as cattle. The idea for this story was kind of born of Dragon Ball cosmology. What do I mean by that? The way the Percy Jackson franchise is presented is that power is on a stepped scale. That is to say, the gods have their own power hierarchy that is above the demi-gods' hierarchy that is above the monsters' that is above the humans. I hate this type of power scale. And if you read between the lines of both the books and the original myths, it doesn't work that way. It's more like Dragon Ball where 99.999 etc. percent of the universe is outclassed by that planet's god (or gods), but anybody can surpass anybody else. It's just no one had, or the few that had never got a straight fight. Hercules was as strong as any god, and the gods were tricked into eating some poor yutz (I can't be bothered to remember who…). And to take one from Percy Jackson, barely trained Percy fought Aries to a draw. Percy even fought off Chronos, who was stronger than all the gods combine. Yeah, possessing Luke so he wasn't at full power, but he was still Chronos. So yeah, it's not unreasonable to think an extraordinarily well trained, extraordinarily talented pure-blood human could fight on the level of a demi- and by extension full-fledged god. Like I said though, I was angry, so I phrased some things a little too extremely. Not saying any of the scenes were off, just the details. But it set the wrong tone, so basically all I wrote on the story so far is a little skewed. One of my rules for writing (especially fanfiction) is "don't write with an agenda". I was totally writing with an agenda.

2: I'm just not that into Percy Jackson right now. That's a simple one. When I inevitably get into the franchise again, you can strike this from the list.

3: I'm entering a more difficult part of the story to execute. Exposition may be boring, but at least as far as the Percy Jackson franchise is concerned, at least it's easy. The story proper? That takes some TLC that I don't have because;

4: I'm working on a lot of stories right now. And not just what I'm posting right now. Also having a lack-luster Percy Jackson fic I have to drag myself into doing is only making the rest of my work weaker and go slower.

5: This is one of my older stories, and frankly, I'm embarrassed by its low quality.

6: There are other stories I'd rather work on instead, like _I am Darkness_ which is almost complete, _Fire_, and not least of which an Ace Combat fic I haven't even started yet due to my already idiotically huge (and self-imposed) workload. I can't concentrate on this story when I'm thinking about those. That hurts those stories, and virtually cripples this one.

**ALL OF THIS HOWEVER, DOES NOT MEAN **_**SHADOWY PAST**_** IS OVER!** I **will** finish this story. Not to be morbid, but my death is about the only thing that will ever stop me from fulfilling that promise. It's just going to take a long-ass time, if you'll pardon my French. (Where does that turn of phrase even come from?) I don't know how long it will take for me to get back to _Shadowy Past_, but I will. In the mean time, my other stories should come out much faster.

When I do finally get back to _Shadowy Past_, the first thing you should expect is some rewrites. This may be a total reboot like with my _Avatar: Endless Waltz_, or it may be the change of 2-4 paragraphs in as many chapters (the latter being the more likely).

If my self-deprecating gags at the beginning were wrong and I have any faithful readers seeing this, I'm sorry, but it's for the best. I'm not uploading nine chapters than quitting. That's been done to me and it ticks me off. A lot. But this story is going wrong. It is not however, unsalvageable. I can fix it, just not now. Not that I have any right to ask you, but don't give up on _Shadowy Past_ just yet.

And now, if I may shamelessly plug my other stories; _I am Darkness_, _Red's Quest: Fire_, _Avatar Off Center_, _Avatar: Rise of the Dragon Knight_, _Avatar: Endless Waltz_, and _Mobile Suit: Alternate Gundam_ are all currently being worked on at a regular pace and are markedly batter! If you'd like to continue supporting my work, check out those. Also, the more people who read _I am Darkness_, the more people will read the Author's Note of Duel 26. Ha! Who am I kidding? Even people who reviewed Duel 26 didn't read that…


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